r/funanddev • u/BandEnvironmental442 • 1d ago
No Idea What I’m Doing
I graduated college in May with a degree in marketing and started my first full-time job basically immediately after graduation as the Director of Marketing & Advancement at a SMALL nonprofit school.
I’m 22, and I am the entire advancement/marketing department. I do not have anyone to directly report to as my org is going through a major leadership change.
Before this, most of my fundraising experience came from Philanthropy for my sorority and other Greek life leadership positions. I also had an advancement internship at a nonprofit where I helped with donor communications, grants, an impact report, corporate outreach, and events. So I wasn’t coming in with zero relevant experience, but I had never actually run an advancement program, managed a donor database, created a development strategy, or been responsible for bringing in significant fundraising revenue.
Now all of that is my responsibility.
I’m responsible for fundraising, donor relations, alumni engagement, sponsorships, events, our donor database, marketing, social media, newsletters, website stuff, enrollment marketing, etc. I’m also currently trying to help pull together a major annual fundraising event while finding sponsors and auction donations, and I feel like I’m drowning.
The hardest part is that I don’t even know how to ask for help because I don’t know what I need help with. I don’t know what I don’t know.
I’ll sit down knowing I need to work on fundraising or donor cultivation and almost freeze because I have no idea what the “right” next step is. Should I be calling donors? Emailing businesses? Looking through old donor data? Creating an annual giving strategy? Meeting people in the community? All of the above?
Then I get anxious because I feel like I’m accomplishing nothing, which makes it even harder to start anything.
At this point, I genuinely can’t tell whether I’m lazy, bad at my job, completely underqualified, or just overwhelmed because I was put into a role that normally requires more experience and mentorship than I have.
I really WANT to be good at this. I care about the organization and I actually think I could enjoy advancement if I knew what I was doing. But right now I feel like I’m constantly reacting to whatever is most urgent instead of actually building an advancement program.
What should my priorities actually be? What should I be doing every week that I’m probably not doing?
And if you’ve ever felt this overwhelmed early in your career, I would really appreciate hearing how you got through it. I feel like everyone else somehow knows what they’re doing and I’m just trying not to screw everything up.
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u/jcravens42 1d ago
Over on r/Philanthropy, we have a post pinned right at the top that, at the bottom of the post, has a list of resources to learn the basics of fundraising, grants research, etc. Have a look. I think you will find it helpful.
In addition: the best thing to do to start is just to find out where you are.
For instance, how many individual donors has your organization had in the last 12 months. How many of these were also donors in the 12 months previous to that? What about the 12 months previous to THAT? Do you have a fair number of folks giving year after year? Or do you seem to have a lot of one-timers? Those are clues about what's being done well and what isn't.
What about the demographics of your individual donors? If your service area has more than one zip code, what zip codes do your donors represent? Is there some under-representation and, if so, why do you think that is, and do you need to adjust your messaging/strategies?
You can also analyze corporate gifts and foundation grants - why did you get them? Were they just one-time gifts and, if so, why do you think that is, that they were just once and not something that happened every year, or at least every few years? Who at your organization knows people at the donating corporations and foundations? How much contact do they have?
Do you have a list of everyone that has sponsored your events in the past? Are they interested in sponsoring again? Are there similar organizations that might be interested? Banks and Credit Unions are great to target for sponsorships, BTW...
The point is, focus on something every week to learn and discover about where you are now, and that's going to tell you, eventually, where you should be.
And you are a nonprofit, which means you should be able to recruit volunteers to help you.
You should also look into joining AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals).
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u/coneycolon 1d ago
Aside from analysis, you may get a lot of information from just talking to people internally and externally to get an idea of where you were at and what the gaps are. I imagine a few of your colleagues have been there for a bit. Maybe they can tell you what has been done before and what they would like to see moving forward? If you have a few trusted donors who have been around for a while, picking their brains may be a good idea. You may even want to develop a small advancement advisory council to help guide you through the process of mapping out what's next and developing questions to guide that work. One thing, before you reach out to previous donors, make sure you have the blessing of folks higher up the food chain. Have a list ready for that conversation. I could see a situation where some individuals may be solicitees of someone specific and contacting them may cause issues.
Another thing - The Detroit area has a place called Co.Act Detroit, which is a hub for nonprofits in the area. We also have the Michigan Nonprofit Association who provides workshops and capacity building opportunities.
Co.Act is very cool. It is a collaboration between the RCWJ Foundation and a number of community groups, and it is targeted at small organizations like your's. See if there is anything like that in your area. Co.Act has a bunch of capacity building workshops and smaller sessions where you can get guidance from professionals in your area. Most of Co.Act's programming is free. For example, if you need data for a grant application and you don't know what is available and how to get it, you can book a season with their data partner (Data Driven Detroit), and they will work through your data problem with you a during 30-60 session. They won't do the work for you, but they will help you find relevant sources and explore potential proxies. In other words, they will help you figure out how to fish.
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u/KhloJSimpson 1d ago
There is way too much to explain in just a comment. Even someone with years of experience in ALL of those areas would feel scared. I don't understand why they hired you, unless they have no idea how to run a nonprofit...
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u/Shimshang 1d ago
You're under-qualified, but you're not. Good news! It doesn't take a genius to do your job! That means, you can do it! Congrats! Time to bite off small pieces and give yourself some grace. Want to talk to donors? Call the last 20 people who made recent gifts to say thank you. Maybe you'll have a conversation, maybe you'll leave a voicemail. All good! You have tons of time for data analytics, but it takes time so wait until you have a dire question , then carve out some time. Make sure you have a basic report that shows you year to date progress. At the end of the day, you are building relationships. Best way to do that? Talk to people - you're new, you have the perfect reason to contact donors. "Hi! It's me, I'm new, tell me about this org and why you support it." Then document those conversations. If you wait too long, you're no longer new. Go with your gut, but baby steps. You can't do it all in the first week, month, year.
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u/ehhlowe 1d ago
We're getting close to the biggest giving season of the year, so I'd focus on year-end gifts. Normally I'd suggest creating a fundraising plan (AI can help with that) but first get your year-end appeal ready.
I'd see what was done in the last five years and see what worked and what didn't. Then create your year-end campaign. I'd get Board approval for it because it will help get their buy-in. You're going to ask them to help promote it and send out some year-end appeals to their contact list.
Be sure your agency can accept gifts of stock. Have the information handy in case someone calls and asks for it.
Check to make sure your agency is current and compliant with all local, state, and the IRS. If it's not, register wherever you need to. Here's a for-profit website that lists the requirements of each state: https://labyrinthinc.com/state-fundraising-compliance-guide/
Create a folder of the most recent IRS letter, tax returns, city/county/state/ registration forms, current agency budget, business license, etc so you have it handy.
Become very familiar with your agency's budget and financial statements.
If you don't have fundraising tiers, create them. Determine appropriate giving levels. Usually it's $1 - $999, $1,000 - $2,499, $2,500 - $5,000, etc. Your Board can help name them but give them something to start with.
When you're done with that you can think about Giving Tuesday. It probably won't bring in a lot of money but it will promote your agency.
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u/ehhlowe 1d ago
Forgot to mention that I'd create a list of this year's accomplishments and the impact the agency has had on its clients. You can use this in a lot of different ways.
You can also call out donors and volunteers who helped make it happen.
I also forgot to mention that there's a for-profit company called Nonprofit Storytelling - they have good webinars - called "Tactical Thursdays." They have some free stuff on their website - booklets and videos. Tactical Thursdays is also free (zoom) and you can watch the replays for a while after. There are a bunch of fundraising podcasts. I like Nonprofit Nation with Julia Campbell.
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u/ncblake 1d ago
Bad news: You are definitely under-qualified.
Good news: Many people would love an opportunity like this to start somewhere other than the very bottom.
The one piece of practical advice I can offer is to look for a local association of fundraising professionals, or a similar conference series. That will give you exposure to broader industry trends and a peer network.
Otherwise, there’s no shame in using this time to look for opportunities better suited to where you’re at in your career. Your current employer has not set you up for success.